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Cat Dentistry ~ jingles please

My 12 year old cat has gum disease. A couple of weeks ago we noticed one of her upper canines jutting forward a bit. It didn't seem to bother her and she was eating fine so I've just been watching it. This weekend it looks worse and some of the root is exposed. Last night she was sort of fiddling with it so this morning I made her an appointment for Wednesday.

I'm thinking it may just be a matter of grabbing it with the forceps and helping it out, but I'm not woman enough to try the string and the door knob technique. I was always a sissy when it came to that. I hate to have her put under for full extraction but if it comes to that so be it, and we'll get her teeth cleaned at the same time of course.

Years and years ago I inherited my aunt and uncle's Burmese, "Brownie" (I know, how original). They never fed him dry food. (They cooked for him. Mostly he ate kidneys.) When I got him, his teeth were SO bad that he lost half of them the first dental cleaning. (He lost the other half on his second dental cleaning, he was left with only his enormous fangs.)

He did fine after that. He was 9 when I got him. As long as your kitteh isn't at risk for anesthesia I'd say let the chips fall where they fall.

Saw this and thought I would respond. I have a 13 year old cat who NEVER chews her food, EVER. 3 years ago I had her first teeth cleaning done, She builds lots of tartar in the back teeth. Procedure was a breeze, No ill effects, But had her done again a year ago, I figure about once a year. Vet said lots of cats do not chew.. Weird. I was glad I had it done however because it will only get worse without treatment!.

"you can only ride the drama llama so hard before it decides to spit in your face." Caffeinated.

Cat's teeth are very deep rooted. In the chance that your cat's loose tooth is still connected to the root, I would definitely not get involved with a string/doorknob extraction. Some vets won't deal with cat's teeth because they can require special equipment to remove. Hopefully your cat will be fine after his dental procedure.

"Fang" is on her antibiotics and scheduled for a cleaning/extraction on Friday.

"Prozac Kitty" went along because she was due for a blood panel and since we were scrutinizing teeth, we noticed that she is now missing a lower canine although no one ever noticed, and apparently she didn't either.

Our older kitty who cannot go under anesthesia, had some tartar build up on her teeth last year. I took her in to the vet for another reason and mentioned the tartar and anesthesia problem to the vet. She looked in her mouth and felt that her gums looked healthy, so she took her thickened, gnarly thumbnail and just popped it right off. I have never seen anything like that before and was really happy for the easy solution.

I hope so too. The loose tooth is becoming infected and really needs to come out. There is a second tooth that probably will not be salvagable.

She has always been healthy but puglet's experience has me more worried than normal. We just don't want to leave that infected tooth in there, let her lose more weight (she's down about half a pound) and risk letting her decline. I think it's tougher when you are trying preventative care and you lose them unexpectedly. It really makes you question your options.

All things considered, it's a relatively peaceful way to go, but I'm not ready to lose my kitty-kids.

Our older kitty who cannot go under anesthesia, had some tartar build up on her teeth last year. I took her in to the vet for another reason and mentioned the tartar and anesthesia problem to the vet. She looked in her mouth and felt that her gums looked healthy, so she took her thickened, gnarly thumbnail and just popped it right off. I have never seen anything like that before and was really happy for the easy solution.

I hope everything goes well with your cat!

I have done the same. Or used dental rongeurs. Sometimes there's just this wad of tartar that's built up but not impacting the gum at all and you can almost "flick" it off with the right angle.

We're home and eating. My sister works at the vet hospital, but it was our "girl's day" shopping spree. She knew how stressed I was so she had her coworker text her when Vivi was awake so I could begin to enjoy our day. Hubby picked her up when she was ready to come home.

Two teeth out. She's on pain meds now and has a sparkle in her eye. I think with those teeth out she will be feeling much better.

Puglet, I'm so sorry you lost your kitty this week. You don't know how heavy that was weighing on my heart with all this happening.

Glad your kitty is ok. Thought I'd add that they do FINE with missing teeth. Despite regular vet care, my one cat has the worst teeth. Every year she got a couple out... the last time I realized she basically has only the fangs left. Doesn't stop her from eating wet and dry food and carrying a nice furry belly. She doesn't seem to miss the teeth! Better gone than painful and rotted!